01 June 2011

Cup of jO's: Billy Beane and Home Plate Collisions

Editor Note: We have made a decision to do away with the morning wraps as about every single publication known to man already does this and our version does not really improve upon them significantly. Instead, we are going to run a daily to be known as Cup of jO's. This is basically a morning feature where we give a short commentary on a pertinent topic.

Billy Beane is often characterized as a great monolithic figure. He is thought by many to be a tragic genius and others as a tireless blowhard. To me, Lewis' cartoonish characterization of him in Moneyball focused my attention on how statistics apply to the game. I began challenging my traditional views as well as any new approaches. I think a lot of baseball is about the approach and very little is about monitoring the approach. You often here throwaway statements, such as the draft is a crapshoot or that you cannot predict injuries and aging. Baseball is not an arena where absolutes should be applied. It is not an arena where there is nothing to be learned. As such, the grand image of Beane (as opposed to the real person) is something I look up toward. Sometimes the real Beane matches that legendary figure.

"You've got to give the runner an avenue to the plate," Beane said in a phone interview Tuesday. "A guy of Kurt's size, to plant himself in front of the plate is not a good idea. Kurt's a good athlete, and he needs to use that athleticism instead of becoming a human wall."

I would add to this that there is no many of any size who can be a human wall to someone who is barrelling down to the plate at full speed and launching with his shoulder. This is particularly true of a 200 lb weight like Scott Cousins crashing at a speed above 15 miles per hour and at a point focused between Buster Posey's head and shoulder. People are told to wear seatbelts due to injuries resulting from crashes involving less momentum. Somehow we expect an unprotected catcher to protect the plate. It is an antiquated idea and something that should be acted on by the league. However, in a vacuum of leadership, individuals are required to insist upon those changes. Billy Beane is insisting on change within his own organization.

That is impressive. I hope Andy MacPhail recognizes this and directs the organizations to teach Matt Wieters how to protect himself while catching.

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Jon Shepherd - Founder/Editor@CamdenDepotStarted Camden Depot in the summer of 2007. By day, a toxicologist and by night a baseball analyst. His work is largely located on this site, but may pop up over at places like ESPN or Baseball Prospectus.

Matt Kremnitzer - Assistant Editor@mattkremnitzerMatt joined Camden Depot in early 2013. His work has been featured on ESPN SweetSpot and MASNsports.com.

Matthew Cassidy - WriterMatt joined Camden Depot before Spring Training in 2017. His love of music is surpassed only by his obsessions with food (unhealthy) and baseball statistics (totally healthy).

Patrick Dougherty - Writer@pjd0014Patrick joined Camden Depot in the fall of 2015, following two years writing for Baltimore Sports & Life. He is interested in data analysis and forecasting, and cultivates those skills with analysis aimed at improving the performance of the Orioles (should they ever listen).

Nate Delong - Writer@OriolesPGNate created and wrote for Orioles Proving Ground prior to joining Camden Depot in the middle of 2013. His baseball resume includes working as a scorer for Baseball Info Solutions and as a Video Intern for the Baltimore Orioles. His actual resume is much less interesting.

Matt Perez - Writer@FanOfLaundryMatt joined Camden Depot after the 2013 season. He is a data analyst/programmer in his day job and uses those skills to write about the Orioles and other baseball related topics.

Joe Reisel - WriterJoe has followed the Norfolk Tides now for 20 seasons. He currently serves as a Tides GameDay datacaster for milb.com and as a scorer for Baseball Info Solutions (BIS). He is computer programmer/analyst by day.

Joe Wantz - WriterJoe is a baseball and Orioles fanatic. In his spare time, he got his PhD in political science and works in data and analytics in Washington DC.